I'm never going back
by EvilLydia
Summary: Kino finds herself in a dreadfully familiar place.
1. So We Meet Again?

I don't own Kino no Tabi or Kino's Journey is you prefer.

Kino was traveling along a lone dirt road, when a thought struck her. This place is awfully familiar. A lot of roads looked the same but if felt like she had been here before.

"What's wrong Kino?" asked a childish voice beneath her. Kino shook her head, "Have we been here before?" She waited for an answer but seemed like Hermes was just thinking, or maybe stalling. She couldn't think of why he would though. "This is the place where you first drove me." he said.

It suddenly hit her. This was her country, the land of adults. Suddenly her breath seemed to run out, she couldn't do this. This wasn't a pleasant village. She wouldn't go back.

She clutched the brake sharply and ended up turning the handle. "What are you doing Kino!" shouted Hermes as he turned on his side and slip across the dirt rode.

Neither of them noticed a buggy approaching them. It was by sheer coincidence that Shizu, Ti and Riku were going in the same direction as them.

Shizu noticed the accident immediately but didn't recognize the who was driving. He parked closely and jumped out. The motorrad had fallen on top of it's rider's leg. It was a young lady, laying face down.

He pulled the motorrad up off her and bent down to help her up. She groaned as he turned her over. As soon as he saw her face he knew who it was. He hadn't seen Kino in a while. There was a long cut above her left eye, close to her hair line.

The white shirt she had been wearing and black vest had been torn and there were spots of blood along her shoulder, where she had hit the ground. "Are you alright, Kino?" As he said this, her eyes started to flutter. "Huh?" she started. Her eyes were unfocused, like she didn't know what was going on.

He wrapped the worst of her wounds and decided to take her off the road.

He started to help her up, but had failed to notice the injury on her leg. "I can't." said Kino, falling back to the ground. He put one of his arms under her knees and other around her shoulders. "Don't worry. There's a country not far from here. I'm sure that they have a hospital or a doctor."

She started to push him away as he lifted her up. "Kino, what are-" "Don't!" she said suddenly. "That country is evil. I won't go back there. I can't."

He had never seen her like this. Well that wasn't really fair, he didn't know her that well. But the few times he did see her, she seemed so composed. This was a panic that he never thought he would see on her face. It was probably because of the injury that she was acting this way. Normally she seemed like the type of person to think things out.

"Fine, I won't take you to that country but I am going to try to bandage your wounds." he said. She seemed to calm down a little at that.

She had said that she wouldn't go back. He wanted to ask her about what had happened in this country last time but she was clearly too upset for that. She closed her eyes, and it looked like she was going to sleep again.

He carried her over to the buggy and sat her in the back seat. He didn't figured that after he got her settled he could come back for the motorrad. He drove over to a good camping spot just off the road and parked. Ti set up the fire while he laid Kino down on the blanket he had bought for Ti.

He used his medical kit to fix up her leg first and then took care of the cut on her face. He was thankful that he had enough sense to get some extra supplies at the last country he had been in.

That was easy enough but she still had cuts along her shoulder and back that needed to be taken care of. That meant that he was going to have to remove her shirt. It wasn't like he was going to try to take advantage of her or anything. It was just that he had always thought of himself as sort of a gentleman.

He took a deep breath and started anyway. While he was doing this, Ti had gone off exploring somewhere.

He was halfway through dressing her wounds when something he feared would happen actually did. He had taken off her shirt and had her laying on her stomach to clean out her wounds when she woke up.

"What?" she said, trying to get up. He quickly removed his hands, "I'm bandaging you wounds. You got into an accident." She nodded and sat upright. He turned his head away while she used her arms to cover her chest. "Thank you. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. That country is not a place you would want to live."

She turned away and let him finish. He was definitely more embarrassed then she was at her nudity. "I'm sorry," he said, still trying to look away while treating her at the same time. "there was no way that I could save you shirt. I have a sweater that you can have."

"Thank you...again." she said. There was a moment of silence between them. She turned to face him, "Where is Hermes, my motorrad?" He shook his head, "I didn't bring him with me. I thought that you needed help right away and so I left him."

He felt bad. She had such a look of loss on her face that he couldn't help it. Just as he was going to offer to go back to get it she spoke, "I need to go get him."

He stood, took out a sweater and tossed it next to her. "Rest. I'll get it. I know where it is." He left before she could object. As he was leaving Riku came over and set next to her. She seemed to really like that dog.

The motorrad was easy to find and he didn't have very much trouble loading it into the buggy. When he returned to his camp, he found Ti showing Kino what she had found in the forest. Kino was talking about other things that she could find in the forest and how to tell which mushrooms were poison.

That evening Shizu cooked for the four of them. Ti was sitting silently on one side of the fire and Kino was petting Riku on the other. When he served them others he sat between the girls. "Kino," he started but he hesitated for a moment.

She was looking at him expectedly. He wasn't really good at things like this. He cleared his throat. "Would you consider traveling with us? Our goals seemed to be the same and It would be nice to have the company."

Kino looked down at her food and smiled sadly. "Thank you for everything that you have done for me but I don't think that I will do that. Hermes is my only companion, the only one I need. I think it would be best is we went our separate ways in the morning."

"Will you be able to ride?" he asked. He had concerned about that with her leg in the condition it was in.

"It doesn't matter." she answered, "I'll figure it out."

He wanted to help but if she said that she was going to be fine then there was nothing that he could do. He really wanted to travel with her but he guessed that that something that would never happen.


	2. Land of Adults

Chapter 2 - The Land of Adults, Aren't We Grown Up?

Kino woke up the next morning more sore than she had been in a very long time. It wasn't only her chest but also her right side. Her broken leg was going to be a problem as well. She looked down at the green sweater that hung loosely around her frame.

She didn't mean to but as she tried to stretch she made a weird sound that she didn't even recognize. "Are you alright?" Shizu asked. She had thought that he was still asleep. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sore." She tried to play it off but it was obvious that he wasn't buying it. Hermes was still sitting in the buggy. She had meant to talk to him but she didn't want to move around too much yet.

She glanced over at where Ti and Riku were sleeping soundly together. She wondered if what she felt was jealousy watching them. Not for the first time, she imagined what it would be like to travel with others.

She closed her eyes and forced the thought from her mind. She honestly believed that she was too selfish to travel with others. Shizu was kinder than she was, he didn't seem to have any problems taking care of others, like Ti and Riku. That was something that she didn't think that she could ever do.

"Kino," Shizu drew her attention again, "are you sure that you don't want a ride somewhere? It's going to be hard to ride with a broken leg. It seemed like the motorad needed some repairs too." She gave him a curt nod, "I'll be fine,"

He still didn't look convinced but nodded back and got up to pack up the camp. While he was doing this Ti and Riku walked over. Riku laid by her side, careful not to move her leg. She was certain that he understood how badly she was hurt. She always loved dogs and he was so cute. "Are we going into that country today?" Ti asked quietly.

Shizu stopped what he was doing and looked between the two girls. "Kino," he addressed her in a very serious manner, "is that country very dangerous?" She blinked a couple of times. That was a question didn't have a simple answer.

After a second of thought she answered, "This country is not dangerous to travelers. Just... just don't question their traditions."

Her voice trailed off in the end. He nodded again and replied, "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind. Would you like me to pick up some medical supplies for you?"

Kino shook her head again, "No, I'll get my own supplies. I don't think anyone their will recognize me anyway."

He knitted his brow, "If you're going there anyway, should we go together? Just this once." She gave him a half smile, it seemed like he really wanted her to join him. With a deep sigh she said, "Fine, I suppose that won't hurt. But I'll only stay for three days." He offered her a hand as she started to move to stand.

He helped her into the buggy and moved to finish packing away all of his things. It seemed like Hermes was still asleep. She hadn't slept very well and as the buggy started she let her mind drift...

Shizu noticed that Kino had fallen asleep as soon as they started moving. It wasn't that surprising, she had a really restless night. He couldn't help but wonder about this country they were going to. Yesterday Kino acted like this was the worst place in the world but today she said that it wasn't dangerous. It was obvious that she had been to this place before. Perhaps they have some really horrible traditions and she had objected so they attacked her while she was visiting or something like that. He supposed that he would find out about their traditions on his own.

He glanced back at Ti, squeezed between Riku and the Motorrad. He prayed that their traditions didn't have anything to do with children but something told him that they did. He took a deep breath, he was just going to go and get some supplies and possibly a doctor for Kino. Maybe she would change her mind about traveling with him by the time that they left the country.

When she woke up he noticed that she was mumbling to the motorrad. Every time he had seen her with it, she always seemed to be mumbling to that thing. He supposed that it meant a lot to her.

As they got to the entrance Kino's body language was tense but she didn't say anything. He had planned on filling out the paperwork for all of them but Kino started filling out her own. He thought that she might lie about her name but as he, subtly, glanced over at her paper he saw her name printed perfectly clearly.

The group entered the country together and Kino got out of the buggy and he helped her get her motorrad out. He left the girls to park the buggy in a garage. Everyone seemed really friendly and happy...too happy.

The people were strange. The children of the village seemed normal enough, running and playing but the adults were concerning. They all seemed to have an odd smile, like it was forced but, at the same time, it didn't really seem fake. Ti was watching the children but he couldn't help but look at Kino.

She was watching the people but not in the same way he was. There was a familiar sadness in her gaze. She had such a tired face, like this place was draining her. "There's a nice hotel just around the corner." She said suddenly. "It's cheap and you can take a shower."

She started limping away, pushing the motorrad with a little bit of strain. "Are you going there as well?" he asked, thinking that he would give her a ride.

"I- There isn't any other place to stay..." she obviously didn't want to. He wondered what was wrong with this place. She looked defeated as she nodded, "I suppose I should at least take a shower." She agreed to go with him.

He wanted to help her with the motorrad but she didn't want his help. She was so independent and strong and he admired her for that. Ti seemed a little impatient as they slowly made their way to the hotel. She wasn't the type to complain but it was clear that she was annoyed.

The hotel was pretty nice. When they entered the couple that ran the hotel, like everyone else, had one of those terrible smiles. "Hello, I need two rooms please."

The couple was happy to help until they saw Kino. At first, Shizu thought that their horrified look was because they might have recognized her and whatever past she had here. "Get that awful machine out of here!" cried the woman.

Kino nodded and asked if she could take it out into the alley, which they reluctantly agreed to. While she was doing that, the man was watching her carefully.

The woman led him, Ti and Riku up the stairs. "I'm sorry about that," she clutched her chest yet the smile never left her face, "Years ago something terrible happened with one of those things. We lost our beautiful daughter because of that."

Normally he wouldn't press but he thought it might have something to do with Kino and he was curious. "Would you mind if I asked what happened?"

She smiled at him as she opened the door to the room and Ti walked in past him, followed by Riku. "Our sweet little Sakura was always nice and obedient. Then, one day, a strange traveler came to our little hotel and he would talk to her alone while working on that terrible thing."

She touched a little wooden train with pegs on it that was nailed to the wall. The last peg was missing. "He corrupted her, she wasn't a good girl anymore and we had to get rid of them both."

"I see," he said as she finished her story, "thank you." It was so eerie. She told the story, and it was certainly terrible, but she didn't seem too sad herself. It was like the human part of her was missing.

As he settled into his room he thought that the story was going to be about Kino but that wouldn't make sense. Maybe she mistook Kino for a man, although she would have been a lot younger if it had happened years ago but she said that they got rid of both of them.

As he sat on the bed and started cleaning his sword, he could hear someone moving around in the room across the hall. The best thing to do would probably be leave her alone for a while. Even if whatever happened to her wasn't here, something definitely happened and she probably needed to deal with it alone.

They got there fairly early in the morning and so there was plenty of time to find some work in this country. He wondered if it would be ok to leave Ti alone while he went to look. He thought that it might be best for her to stay in the room as long as the owners of the hotel left her alone. He wished that Kino had given him a little more information.

As he was thinking this, there was a knock on the door. He stood quickly to answer it, keeping his sword by his side. He opened the door to find a very sad looking Kino. It was like she was a different person here.

"I suppose I should take some responsibility, since I've been here before." She said, staring at the wooden train on the wall. Every now and then she would glance toward the stairs. "Would it be ok to leave Ti here while we walk through town?"

Kino nodded, "She won't be in any danger."

They walked outside together, slowly. "Was that a hospital in the middle of the country?" Kino looked away, "I'm not going there." she said simply.

There was a moment of awkward silence before she said, "There is a person... a doctor that I can see for this. Just this way. I suppose that you've heard the hotel owner's story?" He nodded and she looked thoughtful but didn't say anything more.

She led him through the streets, not meeting the eyes of anyone. When they arrived at a fairly run down building she stepped inside and spoke to the first person that she saw. When she was finished, she limped over to where Shizu was sitting.

While they were waiting he turned to her and asked, "Is there any place here for me to work?" She thought about that for a moment. "I don't really know about that. I... when I was here, I wasn't looking for anywhere to work. It's probably not a good idea right now, work ethic here is a little different."

He thanked her for the information and left her there. While he walked through the town, he was careful to watch the people around them. He went into several shops hoping to find some work but no such luck. Every where he went he was told that they wouldn't hire anyone but 'real' adults even though there were clearly people younger than he was working there.

After a couple of hours, he found himself near a restaurant. He noticed Kino eating outside, a new cast on her leg as well as some other minor bandages. He approached her and asked to sit. As she silently offered some of her sweets, they sat quietly, nibbling on cookies.

He wanted to ask about what being a real adult meant but someone walked up to them. A young man, around Kino's age, with the same creepy smile as all the others approached the two of them. "Sakura?" his brow was knitted together. Kino looked like she didn't want to even answer him. "Sakura, I thought you were gone forever."

Shizu's eyebrows raised unintentionally. That was the same name as the little girl from the hotel owner's story. She glanced at him and gave a wry smile, "Yeah, one in the same."

The boy looked a little perplexed for a moment, like he didn't know what to do about this situation. For a moment Shizu was concerned about Kino but she looked perfectly at ease. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for all the things that I said as a child. I'm an adult now."

"I'm not bothered by it. I'm now traveling with a friend." she said simply, dismissing the boy. "That's good. I have to go to work now." said the boy as he left.

"Does that mean you've changed your mind?" Shizu asked. Kino shrugged her shoulders, "For now, only if the offer is still on the table." "Of course." he replied.


End file.
